Michael Chandler Fires Back at ‘Delusional Paper Champ’ Brent Primus

After a freak injury brought their first fight to an end last year costing Chandler the lightweight title, he was feverishly trying to get back into the cage with Primus to settle the score once and for all.

Unfortunately, Chandler says two past attempts to get Primus into the cage with him again have failed and he had essentially moved on from the match-up. In fact, Chandler has fought two more times since then, while Primus still hasn’t competed since winning the title in June 2017.

Just recently, Primus has been tearing up social media, claiming that Bellator has offered him the rematch, but Chandler refuses to sign the contract. In response, Chandler denies that Bellator has ever offered him a third opportunity to face Primus and he says even fans are starting to see through his cloud of lies.

“He’s literally delusional,” Chandler said about Primus when speaking to MMAWeekly. “The funny thing is I don’t have to say a thing. I sit there in silence and I let the fans rip him to shreds. That’s the beauty of it. I see a comment that he made and it’s been 24 or 48 hours and I’m just getting mention after mention after mention and mind you, I haven’t said one thing to him, but it’s hundreds of mentions of people just hopping on ripping the guy to shreds about how he’s a part time fighter, he’s fought eight times in eight years, he pulled out of the fight, he’s a chump, he’s a paper champ.

“It’s funny and it’s an awesome experience because you don’t even have to talk trash because the fans who know the sport just rip him to shreds. So I don’t have to say a thing.”

Chandler says the reality is he’s chased after Primus ever since an ankle injury cost him the title in their first fight, but he’s started to wonder if the 8-0 fighter really wants to defend his belt or if he’s just enjoying his time as champion while it lasts.

“The paper champ is very untrustworthy when it comes to signing on the dotted line,” Chandler said about Primus. “We’ve never seen medical proof that he was injured and couldn’t fight me April 14. There was no real injury that was reported. He’s a liability in a sport full of professionals. He’s an amateur in a sport full of professionals.

“He’s a part-time fighter in a sport filled by full-time fighters.”

Following wins in his last two bouts, Chandler just recently inked a new multi-fight deal with Bellator MMA that he says makes him the highest paid athlete on the roster.

That kind of investment from Bellator gets Chandler excited to go out and prove he was worth every penny.

That’s why Chandler is interested in the biggest fights that Bellator can offer him and he’s just not sure Primus — even with the lightweight title around his waist — is what the promotion wants to put in front of him.

“It really is unfortunate that he’s held up the division this long, but the honest truth is it was a better fight and a bigger fight for me to face Goiti Yamauchi, a surging prospect with 24 wins and 21 or 22 by submission. It was a better fight for me to fight Brandon Gertz, who is actually a fighter who brings the fight to you and he’s a dangerous guy. These are the kinds of fights that get me excited,” Chandler explained.

“Fighting the paper champ doesn’t get the fans excited; it doesn’t excite anybody. Because he has disqualified himself from being cared about because he’s so absent that nobody cares about him. He won’t have a legacy. He won’t be a has been; he’ll be a never was.”